


Fragmented Phantasy

by EzzyDean



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:33:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2815568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The message is short and it changes everything.</p><p>"It’s time for the true game to finally begin.<br/>Take your clues, find your destiny."</p><p>Fragmented Phantasy: The new immersive fantasy game that feels like your home away from home.  You’ll never want to leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wildflowers and Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> Started for MakoRin week. Just your usual everyone gets stuck in a virtual reality MMORPG game AU.
> 
> Story is marked as completed since at the moment it was written for MakoRin week. But I do have more for this AU/story in mind so keep an eye out for more chapters/edits/status updates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 1 - Warmth/Flowers
> 
> Note: This chapter does mention Rin dying. But it's in a game so he does come back.

A relaxing heat fills his body, fingers and toes tingling, arms heavy at his sides.  After a moment he opens his eyes with a tired sigh; hoping maybe this time he wouldn’t see the high ceilings of the chapel, wouldn’t see the late afternoon sun shining through the colored glass and painting the interior in a rainbow of colors as familiar to him by now as his own two hands.  That instead he would see the ugly gray of his bedroom ceiling and feel the cheap sheets of his bed bunched under his fingers, hear his sister and mom arguing playfully in the kitchen.  It’s a hope that’s always crushed when his eyes flutter open and focus in on the vaulted ceiling and flickering candles above his head but he feels it in his chest every time.  A sharp pang that somehow hurts more than anything that ever puts him here.

The door flies open, banging against the wall before slamming shut with boom that echoes through the empty chapel, empty save for himself and the pair of wolves now hurrying up the center aisle that is, and he takes a deep breath.  The smell of wildflowers drifts over to him, covering up the stifling smell of dust and candle wax and rebirth, as the warmth flooding his veins finally starts to recede leaving behind a dull ache across his chest and stomach from his now healed wounds as he starts to move again.

He rolls off the marble block at the front of the chapel with a groan and blearily rubs at his eyes.  A brown and grey wolf darts up and presses into him with a whine, nose nuzzling at the back of his knee, the edge of his hip, the muscles of his stomach.

“It’s okay,” he murmurs and bends to run a hand through the fur, warm from the sunlight, before straightening and looking at the second, larger, wolf in front of him.  “It’s okay,” he repeats firmly.  Green eyes meet his for a moment before skittering away and focusing on something off to the side.  The wolf sniffs a couple times in his direction and then lets out a heartbreaking whine.  “Makoto.  It’s okay.   _I’m_ okay.”  He says it to reassure himself as much as he says it for Makoto and then he waits, fingers still tangled in Hibiki’s fur.  After a moment Makoto looks back and drops his head down, nudging at Rin’s free hand.  He reaches out and gently rubs the wolf’s head.  “Let’s go.  I’m sure the others are probably not far behind you, right?”

Both wolves stay pressed against him as they leave the chapel and head into town.  Sunlight is reflecting off the lake outside town and a cool breeze blows through the trees.  Rin has to stop and dig his fingers into Makoto’s fur for a moment to ground himself.

Dying, he decides, never gets any easier.

\--

He stares up at the stars in the sky, familiar now due to the time he’s spent staring at them and reading about them but forever just shy of being a comfort, and tries to relax.  The sleep that always came so easily to him back in the real world is so elusive here.

Ai is curled up around him, face pressed into Rin’s hip, arm wrapped around his stomach and body curved around his back as if the close contact will continue to heal the wounds Rin didn’t even have anymore and keep Rin safe from any further harm.  Sei and Momo are close to the fire regaling the others with some story about when they first started, golden eyes reflecting the flickering light; Nagisa is eagerly leaning in and hanging on every word, smacking Rei’s arm when he stops listening to the story and starts flipping through his book instead.  Gou and Haru have their heads together, ignoring the others, and are murmuring over some magical alchemical tome which should probably worry him but as long as nothing blows up this time he figures he can let it be for now - he did just die today after all.  

What does have him slightly worried, however, is that fact that Makoto still hasn’t come back yet.  That coupled with the fact that Sousuke is starting to fidget, eyes darting towards the woods every few minutes before settling back onto the bag at his feet has him a concerned.  Makoto is better and safer in the woods than any of them, especially since Rin is sure he’s probably still in his wolf form, and he has Hibiki with him but it’s still worrying that he’s not back yet.

Instead of giving into the panic he can feel inching along the outskirts of his control he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.   He’s trying not to think about the way Makoto had raced off as soon as they had met up with the others in town, Hibiki on his heels.  Just like he’s trying not to think about the way he had fallen in the middle of the battle; fading even as Ai had hurried over, bashing the man that had wounded him out of the way before planting his sword into the ground next to Rin’s head, healing light trying to compete with the dying darkness already creeping up on him.  

It was his fault, he knew, for the tears on Ai’s cheeks as he bent over Rin, eyes squeezed shut with focus.  His fault for the howl of pain and anger that was ripped from Makoto’s throat as he burst from the trees in his wolf form to join Hibiki in tackling down the lady trying to sneak up on Ai and Rin.  The way Momo’s breath hissed through his teeth when he missed a parry and took a blade across his arm.  Gou’s bomb missing it’s mark and leaving a man to flee the battle.  It was all his fault.

Sei may be their leader but Rin is their heart and if he falters, even for a moment, they all feel it.

They knew that if someone died they would return to the last town or chapel they had visited.  They knew it.  Knowing didn’t stop the blade of fear and worry that sliced through their guts when someone went down.  Knowing didn’t stop the fatal blows from hurting any less.  Because they also understood that they didn’t know all the rules anymore and this time might be the time something changed.  This time might be the time that spells and potions didn’t work.  This time might be the time that whoever died didn’t wake up.

Waking up for the first time after dying had been surreal.  Well at that point he had still been pretty sure that this entire thing was either some temporary glitch in the game or some weird dream and can a dream even be surreal?  He had been a million times more afraid waking up after dying that first time; surprised yells still echoing in his ears, sharp pain of a lance still radiating from his gut, and the thought of _well maybe I can go home now_ floating in his mind.

He stumbled out of the chapel, eyes still trying to adjust to the light, and had been tackled by Gou.  There were tears in her eyes and she started pounding at his shoulder in panicked anger and tugging at his shirt to try and see where he had been impaled.  It had taken nearly a half an hour after his death for his name and location to reactivate on their friend screen, she told him in between shaky breaths, and another half hour for them to make it back to town.  Approximately an hour of nothingness between death and waking up on the cool marble slab in the chapel.

When Sousuke had leaned over them with a worried frown and helped them to their feet it had finally hit him: not only could they not log out of the game, they couldn’t die.  There really was no way out.

 

Ai’s snuffling hiccup into his hip and his arms tightening around Rin’s stomach snap him back to the present and he tangles his fingers in Ai’s hair for a moment, scratching at his scalp until he relaxes again.  Sei comes over and drops next to him with a sigh and cracks his neck, eyes steady on the fire.  “As awesome as campouts and sleepovers are every night I think it’s high time we scrounged up enough gold to officially start a guild and get us a real homebase.”  He turns to Rin and smiles as he gently untangles Ai from around Rin and pulls him into his lap.  “We all work well together and can hold our own in a fight and I really don’t think we’re getting out of here anytime too soon.  What do you think?”

Warmth of a bed and blankets, a roof over their heads, room for everyone to have their own space, someplace secure.  It sounded perfect to Rin and he nods in agreement.  “We should.”

“We’ll start going through stuff tomorrow.  See what junk we can sell and head into town and see what kind of jobs are up on the board.  Officially pool our resources and whatnot.”  Sei nods towards the fire.  “Most everyone else is asleep now.  Get some rest yourself okay?”  He stands and carries Ai back towards the others and Rin glances over at Sousuke before getting up and standing next to him.

“How far out do you suppose he went?”

“Not far.  I’m pretty sure I keep hearing them coming close and then heading back out.  They’ll be back in for good soon.”  Sousuke picks up the bag at his feet and tosses it to Rin.  “Keep an eye on his stuff.  I’m gonna find someplace warm to turn in.”  Rin drops to the ground and pulls the bag into his lap, tugging the blanket Sousuke had been sitting on around his shoulders and propping his chin on the bag as he watches the woods.

When they had come across Makoto and Haru fighting off a giant back outside Elemental Bay only a week or so after Rin’s first death Rin had been quick to jump in and help, Gou not far behind, and Sousuke had reluctantly joined as well.  It hadn’t taken long after that - with all of them traveling the same direction there was plenty of time for talking - for Makoto and Rin to become close friends.  It turned out that Haru and Gou made a pretty good team when they weren’t accidentally blowing things up.  

Sousuke hadn’t really trusted either of them at first, sure that two people dumb enough to try and take on a giant with only a squishy Hunter and an even squishier Shaman were too much trouble to deal with.  Even now he still proclaimed loudly to anyone who asked that he didn’t entirely trust Haru - something Rin’s sure probably has more to do with the fact that his armor keeps turning up wet and smelling like dead fish than anything else.  But he had become protective of Makoto and Hibiki, Makoto’s wolf, in a way that was similar to his protection of Rin and Gou and his threats of throttling Haru had tapered down into mild grumbles and dirty looks.

\--

When Rin wakes up the stars are starting to fade and the smell of wildflowers fills his nose, olive brown hair tickling his chin as he takes a deep breath.  Hibiki whines quietly and licks Rin’s face gently twice before shuffling closer and pressing against Rin’s side.  Makoto shivers and buries his face in Rin’s chest as Rin gropes around and finds the blanket to tug over them.  

“Sorry for worrying you so much,” he murmurs as he presses a kiss to the top of Makoto’s head before drifting back off to sleep, warm and content, one arm around Makoto’s shoulders and the other along Hibiki’s side.


	2. Bittersweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 2 - Chocolate

Rin looks up from where he’s sprawled on the ground and tries to blink away the tears in his eyes.  The bright blue sky is suddenly blocked out by grey and brown fur and he pushes Hibiki’s head out of his way with a huff, grimacing slightly at the wet snuffle he gets across his cheek in response, and looks up into Makoto’s worried green gaze.

“That kind of hurt,” he groans as he reaches up and makes a grabby motion at Makoto who reaches down with a fond shake of his head.  He stumbles, wavering on his feet for a moment when Makoto pulls him up and he rolls his shoulders before bending and grabbing his bag from the ground.  Luckily Makoto had most of the more delicate items in his pack so nothing got damaged in Rin’s fall.

“Are you okay?”  Makoto’s voice is worried but Rin can catch the hint of amusement riding at the edges of it as if he wants to laugh but needs to make sure Rin isn’t actually hurt first.  He pouts and pats the dust from his pants.

“If I say no will you carry me?”  He teases and winks at Makoto.

Makoto glances around the small town square, cheeks flushed, and bites his lip.  Rin is about to take it back and tell him he’s kidding when Makoto suddenly grins.  Before he can do anything, like burn the memory of that childish grin into his brain for eternity, Rin finds himself with his nose bumping against Makoto’s back and Makoto’s wide shoulders supporting his hips.

“There now,” Makoto pats his waist a couple times and then wraps his arm around Rin’s knees to hold him in place before bending and carefully grabbing both their packs.

“Makoto,” Rin hisses and swats at Hibiki, who is hopping up and nipping playfully at Rin’s flailing arms, “put me down!”

“Rin you just tripped over your own feet.  I think it’s safer this way.”  Makoto takes a few careful steps to make sure he has Rin’s weight distributed right and then pauses.  “Unless there was an actual reason you tripped?”

Rin freezes because there is no way he is going to admit that he tripped over his own feet because he was too busy watching Makoto walking in front of him and admiring Makoto’s wide shoulders and muscular legs to properly pay attention to himself.  Hibiki jumps and licks at Rin’s face and he scowls down at the wolf.  If he didn’t know any better he’d say Hibiki was laughing at him, tongue hanging out and a definite grin on his wolfy face.

“Rin?”  Makoto adjusts Rin slightly.  “You okay?”

Rin buries his face in Makoto’s back with a growl.  “You just picked me up like a sack of potatoes or something and tossed me over your shoulder.  Of course I’m not okay.  I’m mortified.”  A few steps later Rin glances around and then whines.  “Everyone is staring at us Makoto.”

“They’re just jealous of how precious and wonderful and beautiful the cargo I’m carrying is.”  Makoto pats Rin’s hip a couple times before quickly dropping his grip back to Rin’s legs.

Rin is gaping down at the ground, cheeks redder than the Mikoshiba brothers’ hair, as he tries to process Makoto’s words. “You.  Oh my g-  You just-”  Makoto is trying not to laugh, Rin can feel it in the way his shoulders tense and shake and his fingers squeeze Rin’s legs.  If he could see Makoto’s face he’s sure he would see the turned up lips and crinkles around his glittering eyes as well.  Hibiki, sensing Makoto’s good mood, is bouncing around them like a puppy so Rin simply pinches Makoto once, hard, on his side which earns him a loud yelp before giving up and hanging his head.  It’s been awhile since Makoto has smiled like this and laughed so freely and Rin can’t find it in himself to ruin his good mood.

Even if it does appear to be at his expense.

\--

Rin manages to get Makoto to put him down before they meet up with some of the others for a late lunch; the last thing he needs is to see that teasing glint enter Sei’s eyes or to face down Haru’s all knowing ever judging blank stare.  Though he still spends most of lunch avoiding Haru’s looks by pulling Hibiki into his lap and pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in checking that he didn’t have a single bug or scrap of grass or leaf in his fur.  Hibiki, thankfully, enjoys the attention and barely moves through the whole thing.

That doesn’t mean he didn’t listen to the conversations.  He knows they have somewhere between a quarter and half of the funds they need to start up a guild depending on the initial size they choose and the location.  He knows that Sei, Ai, Gou, and Haru were heading out into the nearby woods to pick up and finish a few simple quests that day and that the others were exploring the town to make sure they didn’t miss any easy opportunities.  Rin is not entirely sure he personally would have chosen to leave Momo and Nagisa in the same group and he just hopes that Sousuke won’t throttle the other two before the day is over.

He also knows that one thing that would make all of this so much easier was if they had a Bard with them.  Someone with the diplomatic skills and persuasion abilities to really get them some good deals on their stuff.  Get them some good quests and information.  It’s a thought that he shares only to receive a glare from Haru when Makoto perks up with a murmured “Oh yeah.”

“I don’t understand why I was being glared at so much.  I know Haru and I aren’t the bestest of friends and all that, but really,” he gripes as he and Makoto take the path from the gardens back towards the market.  Makoto squeezes his hand and twines their fingers together with a small smile.

“It’s not really you.  The thing is Haru and I do kind of know a Bard.  At least we’re pretty sure he was a Bard.   He had one of those premium shop things from way back when that hid like his stats and class and abilities.”

“Okay.  So why was I getting the evil eye of doom?”

“Haru and Kisumi never exactly got along for some reason.  Well they did but they didn’t?”  Makoto sighs and tugs Rin into him, dropping his hand and slipping his arm around Rin’s waist instead.  “It’s hard to explain and I never really understood what the issue between them was.  But if we need a Bard he’s the only one I can think of.”

“And?” Rin asks when Makoto is quiet for a minute.  “How pissed is Haru gonna be if we get him?”

Makoto thinks about it as they stroll into the market, arm still warm against Rin’s back, Hibiki bouncing around their feet.  “Well, we might need to buy Sousuke some new armor.  And a week’s worth of that sweet bread he likes.  But as long as Sousuke can be convinced not to strangle Haru in his sleep it should be fine.”  Rin stops and Makoto turns to face him, frown on his face and eyebrows scrunched together. “Rin?”

“Your best friend is a child.  You realize that right?”

Makoto’s laugh fills the market.  “He says the same thing about your best friend.”

\--

They’re sprawled out near the fire, Sousuke and Sei trading equipment nearby, when Makoto startles and then raises his fingers up to poke at the air.  It takes Rin a moment to figure out what he’s doing.  Rin almost forgot that you could send mail to people on your friends list via the user interface.  Everything had become so natural to him to do without the UI, and the others were almost always nearby anyway so it’s not like he needed to use it, that he had forgotten it was there.

“He’ll do it,” Makoto murmurs into Rin’s hair, “do you think we should meet him?”

Rin sighs and considers talking to Sei about it but he knows that Sei will just laugh and tell him to go ahead and that he really doesn’t need to ask about stuff like this.  “There’s a reason you’re my second in command here Rin.  I trust you,” he’ll say and then clap Rin on the shoulder and send him back over to Makoto.

“You really don’t think Haru will be too mad?  I don’t want this causing an issue between you guys.  We can make due without him technically.  We have so far.”  He can tell Makoto is seriously thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons as he stares up at the starry sky.  Rin can’t make this decision alone.  He knows that Makoto is the one who knows Haru the best and as much as Haru irritates Rin and Sousuke sometimes he can admit that Haru is a damn good Shaman and an asset to their group overall.  Plus Gou was fascinated with him in a weird, you have an awesome brain I want to crawl inside it and find out what you know sort of way.

“As much as he complains and says he dislikes Kisumi he understands the need.  He doesn’t want to be stuck like this forever anymore than any of us do.  He’ll manage.”

“Okay,” Rin nods and snuggles back into Makoto’s warmth.  “Set up a time and place for us to meet him.”

\--

Hibiki is chasing a couple of rabbits around the meadow with no real intent to catch them when Rin drops down into Makoto’s lap with a frown.  “He’s late,” he says by way of explanation when Makoto wraps his arms around Rin’s waist and gives him a questioning look.  Makoto laughs quietly and nuzzles at Rin’s neck.

“He’ll be here.  It’s just.  Kisumi is, well,” Makoto leans back a little and watches the clouds for a moment before looking back to Rin and dropping a kiss on his nose.  “Kisumi is Kisumi.  You’ll understand when you meet him.”

Rin rolls his eyes before returning the kiss, bypassing Makoto’s nose to press against his lips. “You always taste so sweet,” Rin murmurs before tucking his head against Makoto’s neck with a hum.  “Like hot chocolate.  Makes me remember home.”  Makoto’s arms tighten around him for a moment.

The sun is almost setting, not that they’re paying much attention anymore to the time, and Rin is still planted in Makoto’s lap, fingers tangled in his hair as they kiss.  Hibiki lets out a bored whine and flops into them and Rin huffs out a breath of laughter.

“You know I’m starting to think that Haru is right about him.”

“Whatever Haru has said about me I promise only like a quarter of it is true.”  Rin is off of Makoto’s lap and on his feet in a flash, dagger at the ready, only to be greeted by a bright smile and even brighter eyes.  “Okay.  Maybe a third of it.  But I won’t admit to any more than that.”

\--

“Haru hates him,” Sousuke states almost gleefully that night after Makoto has collapsed next to Rin and buried his head against Rin’s thigh.  Makoto had spent an hour just trying to keep Haru from throttling Kisumi on the spot when they first came back and he was exhausted.  Rin nods and runs his hand soothingly across Makoto’s shoulders as Sousuke leans close and nudges him with his shoulder.  “I like him.  Can we keep him?”

He can only shake his head in mild amusement as Sousuke hops up and strolls over to where Sei and Kisumi are chatting animatedly with Momo and an irritated looking Haru.

“I take back my previous statement.”  Makoto makes a questioning noise and turns to look up at Rin.  “Your best friend isn’t a child.   _Both_ of our best friends are children.”


	3. Silver Tongues and Wicked Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 3 - Lies

“Well sorry I’m not a silver-tongued little lying demon like you.”

“It’s okay,” Kisumi laughs softly and smiles at Rin.  "Not everyone can be this perfect.  It’s a curse.  I understand your frustration.”  

Rin growls at Kisumi, literally growls, voice low and grating in his throat, and throws the book he is holding at Kisumi’s grinning face.  Kisumi catches it easily enough but he’s fairly confident that no one would blame him had he actually hit Kisumi's face; hell Haru would probably pay him to do it again.  Kisumi’s incessant cheerfulness put both Momo and Nagisa combined to shame and with it came an unwavering positive attitude that, while Rin did admire it to some degree, mostly just drove him nuts.

“Besides,” Kisumi leans over and pokes him in the shoulder and Rin blinks a few times because he hadn’t realized Kisumi had been talking that whole time, “I have gotten many, many, compliments on how well I use my, uh, silver-tongue.”

Rin is busy looking through his pack and doesn't even fully register Kisumi’s innuendo - he’s gotten pretty good at only half listening to Kisumi in the couple weeks since he joined them - until he hears the shopkeeper giggling.  Then the words sink in and he jerks his head up.  Kisumi winks at him and wiggles his eyebrows and Rin can only drop his head into his hand with a sigh.  

“What did I do to deserve being stuck, alone, with you today?  Why does the universe hate me?”  

Kisumi drops his arm around Rin’s shoulder and pulls him over to the next stall.  “The universe doesn’t hate you.  Sei just wanted to mix everyone up a bit.  Make sure we all play nice together or whatever.  He’s worried ya know.”  

Rin pulls a couple things from his pack and hands them over to Kisumi so he can go do his thing.  He shakes his head as he watches Kisumi practically charm the pants off of the merchant as he convinces the man to give them what Rin figures to be at least twice as much as any of their stuff is worth.

As Kisumi chatters away Rin sits on a nearby bench, eyes skimming the sunny marketplace as he waits.  He does know that Sei has been worried.  Things have been quiet for months now.  No big fights between groups.  No monster invasions.  No mysterious events.  Everything is going smoothly.  Which you would think would be a good thing.  But the downside to no fighting is, well, no fighting.

Fighting was the way their little groups all met.  Fighting side by side seamlessly, synching up almost perfectly; their teamwork had been almost scarily perfect since day one.  It’s hard to keep the ease they had managed to find with each other on the battlefield when there’s nothing really to practice fighting and there’s only so much solo practice you can do when you’re not a solo player.  Yet another reason they needed to set up a guild soon: gaining access to more challenging party quests.

Logically he knew that constantly staying in their own little subgroups when they were relaxing was the worst thing they could do in the long run.  Because there was no guarantee that he would wind up with Sousuke or Makoto if something happened.  There was no promise that Sei and Momo would be fighting side by side in the next battle, whenever it may be.  No way of knowing if Haru would be with Makoto or Rei the next time a fight broke out.  He, Nagisa, and Ai had to be able to work as smoothly together as he, Sousuke, and Gou did.  They all needed to be able to get along with and trust each other, no matter who they were stuck with.

A thought which apparently had led Sei to the idea of sending them out on little bonding missions.  Just trips to town or through the nearby woods in groups of two or three so they could spend time together and connect a bit.  It’s kind of a pain - it reminds Rin of school activities designed to make everyone be friends - but he understands the usefulness of it.

Plus he figures it could have been worse than him getting stuck with Kisumi.  Seeing as how, the last Rin knew, Sousuke was stuck out in the woods on some dull repeatable collection quest with Haru and Momo.

“Come on, Rin!”  Kisumi tugs Rin off to yet another stall with a grin.  “I know I’m not the marvelous Makoto that you're so infatuated with but it’s not so bad being stuck with me, is it?”

“I suck at lying, Kisumi.”  He stops and turns to give Rin a confused look.  “So I’m not even going to answer that.”

Kisumi’s exaggeratedly insulted gasp fills the sunny marketplace with Rin’s laugh right behind it.

\--

“So I hear you missed us today,” Sousuke grins and drops onto the ground next to Rin.  Makoto is laying on the ground and using Rin’s lap as a pillow and he grumbles goodnaturedly when Sousuke stretches out and drops his legs on top of Makoto’s.

“Lies.  Filthy lying lies.”  He raises his voice and Kisumi looks over with a laugh.  “Lies told by a lying liar.”  Makoto looks offended and Sousuke raises an eyebrow at Rin.  Rin bends down and gives Makoto a quick kiss.  “Not you.  I missed you.”  He kisses Makoto’s cheek and forehead.  “I really really did.”  He shrugs and gestures in Sousuke’s direction.  “You.  Not so much ‘missed’ as thought about vaguely in a ‘I hope that vein in his forehead hasn’t exploded due to stress yet’ sort of way.”

An amused huff comes from behind them and Rin glances back to grin at Haru who is busy ignoring Sousuke’s glare.

“Your kind thoughts about my well being mean so much to me in these troubled times, Rin.  You truly amaze me,” Sousuke deadpans before rolling his eyes and getting up.  Rin loses track of him once he reaches the other side of the fire where Gou and Rei are busy plotting something, but he hears Sousuke laugh at something and smiles.

“You know,” Makoto reaches up and traces Rin’s smile, “I think you’re being a lying liar who lies.”

Rin scoffs and tries to bite at Makoto’s finger.  “Excuse me?”

“You missed him today.”

Rin looks around the small clearing and takes everyone in.  Ai, Momo, and Kisumi are chatting across the fire from him.  Nearby Gou and Rei are showing Sousuke something in a huge book they have open across their laps.  Sei is sprawled on the ground and Nagisa is using his stomach for a pillow and he knows Haru is behind them being all mysterious and Shaman-y.  “Eh, I kind of miss everyone when we’re not all together.”  He reaches down and takes Makoto’s hand, pulling it up to press a kiss to it before threading their fingers together.

“But you miss him more than the others, except maybe Gou.”

“Maybe.  I definitely miss you the most.”  

Makoto pulls him down for a kiss.  “I miss you the most too, ” he murmurs against Rin’s lips when they pull away from each other

Haru brushes past them with a rustle of fabric and HIbiki at his heels.  “You two are disgustingly sweet,” he tosses over his shoulder before settling down near the fire not far from where Sei and Nagisa are sleeping.

\--

The deafening crash echoes through the forest, vibrating in the air and rustling the leaves, and Rin jolts awake, scrambling to untangle himself from Makoto.  He’s up on his feet almost before he’s fully aware and notices three things at once.

The first is that everyone looks just as bewildered and half-asleep and confused as he feels.

The second is that it’s raining.

The final thing being that he has a new message blinking in his inbox.

_You sit upon a throne of lies, a crown of thorns upon your head.  Jeweled tears adorn your wrists, bloodied gold warms your neck.  You wipe the board and pieces fall, scatter and break upon the floor.  Your kingdom is covered in dust and shadow, and sunlight reaches you no more._

_It’s time for the true game to finally begin._

_Take your clues, find your destiny._

 

“So we all got the same message.  Right?”  Sei glances around their huddled group and everyone nods.  As far as they can tell each message is the same.  “I’m guessing the crashy gong thing and the message and the fact that it hasn’t stopped raining are all part of this ‘true game.’  Whatever the hell that is.”  He adds under his breath.

Rin stares out at the falling water, frowning as he shivers and presses backwards into Makoto’s chest.  It’s been raining the entire day.  Which wouldn’t be weird except for the fact that it had been nothing but partly cloudy and bright every single day since they settled down in the forest outside of town over a month ago.

Sei sighs and pulls his blanket tighter around his shoulders.  “Any ideas?”

“This sucks.”  Nagisa pouts and shivers, clinging to Momo and inching them both closer towards Sousuke.

“A valid point but not quite what I was hoping for.”  Nagisa sticks his tongue out at Sei before turning his bright pink version of puppy eyes against Sousuke.  Sousuke, who already has Ai curled up against his side under their blankets, does his best to ignore Nagisa.

“A kingdom covered in dust and shadow sounds like it might be that area past the mountains,” Rei says, biting lightly at his thumbnail, “But I’d have to double check some books I had read in town to be sure.”

“I think we should still make getting a guild set up our first priority.”  Everyone turns to Rin and he gestures at the rain.  “Who knows when this is letting up?  I know I don’t want to be stuck in the rain for who knows how long.  Plus a guild would give us a home base to do proper research and training for whatever this ‘true game’ thing is.  This whole thing could be over in days or months.  I, for one, would like to spend that time out of the rain.”

Kisumi pokes his head up out of his blanket with a sniffle.  “And we could touch base with other guilds.  Gather some intel and the like on what’s happening.”  He sneezes and rubs his nose on his blanket.  “Plus, you know, being warm is awesome.”

Sei nods.  “I think that’s a good idea.  Keep heading for the guild like we had planned.  No sense in changing tactics until we have a better idea of what’s happening.”

Rin settles back against Makoto’s chest as the others start discussing the final details for setting up the guild.  Stuff about finances and expansion costs and officers and leaders and Rin just kind of half listens, mind more focused on the thought of this all being over.  His real life seems so far away now that it feels like the game and this, being here with Makoto warm against his back, is real life.  Makoto wraps his arms around his waist and rests his chin on Rin’s shoulder.

“What do you think this all means?”  He whispers into Rin’s ear.  Rin shrugs and leans his head against Makoto’s.  He doesn’t have a clue and it worries him more than he wants to admit.

“Fine,” Sousuke groans and opens his blanket.  Nagisa lets out an excited cry and practically drags Momo over to Sousuke and settles them both under the blanket.  “Anyone else while we’re at it?  Sei?  Gou?  Hell, Haru?”  Sei shakes his head with a smile and scoots over to where Rei and Gou are making notes with Kisumi.

“Not even if I was dying, thanks.”  Haru snuggles down into his blanket with Hibiki curled up around him.

“Rin?”  Sousuke tilts his head and smiles, pulling the blanket open a bit in invitation.

“I think I’m good right here.”  Rin relaxes further into Makoto’s grip and pulls the blanket tighter around them.


	4. Falling, Falling, Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 4 - Touch

Rin focuses on Makoto’s breathing as he scrubs at his eyes, sleep and tears clinging to his lashes.  Inhale.  Exhale.  Inhale.  Exhale.  The steady rise and fall of Makoto’s chest helps calm him.  He can feel his heartbeat slowing and he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as he lets it out.

He never would have imagined that a dream about home would make him wake up feeling so wrong, so lost.  His mind felt like it was stuck in tar.  Like it was trying to race along and put all the pieces of his dream in the correct places but instead it was only managing to trudge along at a snail’s pace, fragments of his dream all jumbled together.  His brain just kept going around and around, telling him that he just needed to wake up and open his eyes and he would be home and in his bed and all this would be a memory.

“Rin?”  Makoto’s fingers brush his shoulder and Rin shudders.

No soft bed or extra pillows or warm quilts.  No sunlight gently streaming through partially open shades.  No mother calling up for him to hurry downstairs or he’ll be late.  All that’s here right now is Makoto and him sharing a scratchy blanket and the unceasing sound of rain.  Makoto’s warmth grounds him and brings him back into his current reality and he opens his eyes slowly.

He had almost forgotten how something as simple as a slight touch could be so comforting.

“Makoto.” He drops back down and snuggles into Makoto’s arms, nose pressing against Makoto’s neck as Rin takes a deep breath.  “What am I going to do without you,” he mumbles and Makoto doesn’t answer.  He simply wraps his arms tightly around Rin and holds him until they both fall back asleep.

\--

Makoto watches as Rin skims through the scroll in his lap, fingers tracing along the neat script as his eyes dart along the scroll, occasionally flicking off to the side to examine the border before focusing back in on the script.  There was nothing singularly captivating about Rin’s fingers - they weren’t particularly long or delicate or wide or nimble looking - but something about them fascinated Makoto.  

When they had first met he had often found himself staring at them.  Just watching while Rin talked or pointed something out.  Watched as Rin ate or fidgeted.  Watched they way his fingers kept his daggers clean and kept their enemies’ pockets empty.  

Maybe that was part of it.  He was a Thief but he didn’t seem to have a thief's hands.  At least not the kind of hands Makoto had always imagined thieves having.  Makoto had always pictured thieves as having these long nimble fingers, almost delicate looking, that could snatch items and pick locks with ease.  

But Rin’s fingers were just normal looking fingers.  He always wore a gold ring on the pinky of his right hand and he had a small tattoo around the base of his left thumb.  Other than that there was nothing all that notable about them apart from them being Rin’s.  But that’s obviously all it took for them to catch Makoto’s attention.  

Rin twists a lock of hair around one of his fingers and tugs lightly at it as he concentrates on the scroll and Makoto watches.  Watches the way the firelight throws golds and oranges against Rin’s skin.  Watches the way his mouth moves restlessly as he reads.  Watches the understanding slipping into his eyes as takes in the words.

He watches himself fall in love with Rin all over again.

\--

There’s nothing quite like the comfort of having your ear pressed to someone’s chest and hearing the solid thump of their heartbeat.  It’s reassuring to have that sound filling your ears as your own heart tries to sync up with it.

The nightmares were becoming more frequent in the weeks since the day the rain started and the ‘true game’ began.  Each night they drifted off into an uneasy sleep with the worry of who would be the one to jerk awake in fear that night on their minds.  The entire group had taken to curling up close together - even Sousuke and Haru occasionally slept back to back and if nothing else showed how worried and creeped out they all were by the dreams that did - and they had quickly gotten over their embarrassment at occasionally needing to wake someone else up when they couldn’t calm themselves down alone.

Rin’s not sure who needed the comfort more this time.  Makoto, jerking awake in the middle of a nightmare, panicked and pale, or himself, startled awake and scared of the wide, empty look in Makoto’s eyes before he had finally blinked and dropped his gaze to where Rin’s fingers were pressed against his shoulder.

“Everything okay?”  Gou mumbles from beyond Makoto and Rin nods when she cracks her eyes open to check on them.

“It’s fine.  Go back to sleep.”  She gives some kind of sleepy mock salute and rolls over to bury her face in what Rin thinks is Rei’s shoulder.  Makoto’s breathing starts to even out and he shivers.

“Sorry,” he mutters.  Then he drops back onto his side with a huff and curls up under the blanket with his back to Rin.  Hibiki pads over from the entrance to the cave they had made their temporary home base and nuzzles at Makoto with a whine until he tugs the wolf down and cuddles him against his chest.  Rin runs a tired hand down his face.

They need to get a guild set up fast.  He doesn’t think that sleeping in a cave is causing their nightmares but he knows that it is much more comforting to wake up in a warm dry bed after one than it is to wake up in a damp cave.  Plus getting the guild set up would be one less worry off their minds if nothing else.

A hand tugs at his sleeve and he glances over to see Nagisa reaching out from where he was curled up between Sei and Kisumi.  “We’ll get things sorted out Rinrin.  Don’t worry.”

“I know we will, Nagisa,” he says as he lays down and presses his back against Makoto’s.  He wraps his fingers around Nagisa’s wrist and squeezes lightly.  “And don’t call me Rinrin.”  Sei snorts out a quiet laugh and rolls away from Rin, taking Nagisa with him.

\--

Makoto, Rin thinks as he watches him in his wolf form chasing Hibiki through the trees, always seems like he could take care of anything.  He wasn’t sure if it was the calm smile or the wide shoulders or the gentle way he handled everything and everyone.  But something about him always made Rin feel safe.

He laughs when Nagisa leaps out of a shadow and is immediately taken down by two wolves.

“You really need more practice if you want to sneak up on them,” Rin calls over.

“That’s, eep!”  Nagisa giggles as one of the wolves snuffles at his throat and then sneezes into the skin.  “That’s what I’m trying to do.”  He manages to scramble to his feet and pull himself up into a nearby tree.

“Good luck with that.”  Rin turns his attention back to the scroll he has open in his lap.  He’s pretty sure he’s just about figured out how to use the new skill in it, which will be awesome for the next time they have a battle since it’s a skill where he steals an item and replaces it with a piece of junk.  Especially useful since some of the better items in this area aren’t even drops from monsters, they have to be stolen.  There’s just one last part of the scroll that he can’t quite translate and he’s been staring at it for most of the morning and it’s starting to frustrate him.

Makoto plods over and drops his head onto Rin’s lap effectively covering the scroll and distracting him.  He shakes his head with a sigh and runs his fingers through the thick fur along Makoto’s neck.  After a few minutes Makoto huffs and gently takes the scroll from Rin’s lap, dropping it into his nearby pack with a carefulness that Rin would never expect to see in a wolf.  Then he comes back and pulls Rin to his feet.  He tugs at his sleeve and nudges at Rin’s legs until he gives in and lets himself get drug out into the trees.

Hide and seek, he discovers, is hard to play with two wolves and an Assassin.

It gets even harder when Gou starts tossing out her newly invented fog bombs and then the others start testing out their various buffs, wards, and shields on everyone.

\--

Makoto presses against Rin, scattering kisses across his shoulders and nipping lightly at his throat.  Rin’s skin might as well be on fire where Makoto’s fingers are skimming across it, mapping out the dips and crevices almost reverently as if they held the secrets to life itself.  He’s cold where his body is pressed against the rocks but so very warm where Makoto’s skin is pressed agains his own.  His fingers dig into Maktoto’s wide shoulders when Makoto’s breath puffs against his neck.

They’re wrapped up in their own world and part of Rin wonders if it will be anything like this if they ever manage to get out.  If he’ll be able to find Makoto out there in the “real” world.

He really hopes he can.  Because after all this time spent here with Makoto by his side he’s not sure he wants to spend the rest of his life without Makoto back there.  Without his touch burning trails along Rin’s skin.  Without his voice filling Rin’s head even when he’s not next to him.  Without his love giving Rin strength.

He sinks into Makoto’s warmth and lets himself fall, confident that Makoto is right there with him.

If there has been one good thing about getting trapped in this game it’s that he found Makoto to fall in love with.


	5. Error: No Way Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 5 - Firsts

“So no logging out?”

Rin shook his head and dropped onto the ground next to Sousuke.  “Nope.  And I can’t get that manual forced disconnect to work either.”

“You managed to try it?  I can barely make anything work right now with whatever upgrade they supposedly did with the system.”  

Gou is on the bench behind them with her knees pressed against Sousuke’s back as she scrolls through her friends list.  “It’s not so bad once you get used to it.  Play around with it a little.  It’s actually pretty intuitive.”

“You would be the first one of us to adjust to it.”  Sousuke rolled his eyes when Gou kicked his back lightly.  “I’m just saying.  Miss tech queen and all that.”

“That’s right,” Gou grinned down at them and spread her arms, “bow down to your queen boys.”  Her grin dropped as an angry shout came from across the garden near the marketplace.  Sousuke and Rin both pressed back a little closer to her as the sound of arguing reached them.  “Towns are still a no battle zone, right?”  She asked nervously.

“Technically.”  Sousuke turned to him with a questioning look.  “Well,” he explained, “a PVP battle with skills and spells isn’t quite the same as a regular fist fight.”  The shouting started to grow louder, sounds of fists hitting flesh reaching them through the noise, and Rin stood up.  “Let’s get out of here.”

\--

Rin glared at the message floating just in front of his eyes.

_Error there is no user by this name on this server._

“Bullshit,” Rin muttered and scrolled through his friends list again.  He didn’t have nearly as many as Gou did so finding a single name shouldn’t have been so difficult.  He knew he was spelling the name right and he knew they played on this server.  He tried again.

_Error there is no user by this name on this server._

Sousuke glanced over when Rin groaned and dropped his head onto the table.  “No luck?”  He asked after Rin thumped his head against the table a couple times.

“No.  I can’t find any help menu any more.  I can’t contact any of my friends who were Admins.  I can’t send a mail to any of the support inboxes.  It’s like everything is cut off.”

“I was thinking it was just maybe like that glitch last spring.  The one where we couldn’t log out until our minds actually went fully to sleep or whatever the hell that was.”

“Me too.  But we’ve been here for days now.  We’ve slept multiple times in the game world and still nothing.”

“So what do we do?”

Rin studied the grain of the wooden table top his head was on.  Tracing the curves and imperfections with his eyes.  The realness of the game had been one of it’s selling points.  “An immersive fantasy game that feels like your home away from home.  You’ll never want to leave.”  Never want to leave, right.  Rin shook his head and sat up.

“Play the game I suppose.  Until we get more information at least.  People back home are bound to start noticing what’s happened and getting in contact with the game owners or servers or something.”  Sousuke stared up at the ceiling of the cafe they were in for a minute before looking over and grinning at Rin.

“So.  Quest time?”

“Quest time.”

\--

“I’m Makoto and this is Haru.”  Green eyes sparkled at Rin and he felt himself blushing.

“Uh that’s Sousuke and Gou.  I’m Rin.”

“Thanks for helping us out.”  Makoto smiled at them and Rin couldn’t help but smile back.

“Oh it was no problem.”

“Actually it kind of was,” Sousuke butted in with a sigh.  “What the hell were you guys thinking, trying to take that thing on alone?  Didn’t you see the ‘suggested party size of at least three to five’ thing?”

“We would have been fine.”

Sousuke glared at Haru.  Whether for interrupting him or for being overconfident Rin wasn’t sure.  He gave Makoto an apologetic look as Sousuke continued.  “Even if you could potentially do it with two people you don’t even have a melee fighter.”  He pointed to Makoto.  “He’s a ranged fighter and you,” he pointed to Haru, “are just a squishy magic user.”

Haru turned away from them with a huff and headed down the path away from the beach.

“Ah, Haru!”  Makoto took a step towards Haru and then paused, spinning back towards the others to smile at them.  “Thank you again.  Sorry about Haru he’s just, well, he’s Haru.”  He waved before turning back and hurrying after his friend.

That night when they camped in the woods just beyond the beach Rin dreamt for the first time since getting stuck in the game.  It was a dream about sparkling green eyes and jeweled crowns and Makoto’s soft smile.  He woke up blushing.  Sousuke just shook his head when he saw the flush on his cheeks and walked away.

“I’m not even going to comment on it,” he called over his shoulder as he went to prevent Gou from attempting breakfast.

\--

Rin could only watch in surprise as two wolves paced in front of him.  He had been fighting off a bandit with Makoto and when he had stepped in as a distraction so Makoto could back off a bit and get a clear shot the bandit had sliced across his arm and made him drop his dagger.  The next moment a snarl came from Makoto and Rin looked over in time to see him shift into a huge wolf that launched at the bandit, tearing into him with a growl.  

In a few more minutes the entire fight was over and Rin was pressing a strip of cloth to his arm.

“Rin!”  Ai hurried towards them and froze when Makoto let out a low warning growl.

“Makoto?” Rin called out and the wolf’s ears pricked up, turning slightly towards Rin but still keeping Ai in his sights.  “It’s just Ai.  You know him.  He just wants to heal my arm.”  The wolf huffed out an irritated sounding breath but he stopped growling and took a small step to the side to let Ai pass.  Rin felt the cool sensation of Ai’s magic healing his arm as the younger teen chattered out apologies.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get here in time to stop him.  I should have moved a little faster and then I could have put up a barrier of some kind to protect you guys.”  Makoto let out a huff that sounded like he agreed and Rin frowned.

“Stop it,” Rin warned Makoto and he was surprised that it didn’t feel strange at all to be talking to a wolf considering until that morning when Hibiki had come bursting through the trees to take down a wild boar that had tried to attack Makoto, Rin hadn’t even known that Makoto was a Beastmaster.  Ai finished and then hurried off to check on the others.  Makoto came over and sniffed at his arm, probably smelling a mixture of Ai’s healing magic and Rin’s blood.

Rin lifted his hand slowly and settled it into the thick fur around Makoto’s neck, happy when Makoto didn’t flinch or move away.  In fact Makoto let out a pleased sound and dropped himself across Rin’s lap as Rin ran his hands through his fur.  A few minutes later Hibiki slowly wandered over to them, cautiously sniffing at the air as he approached.  Rin held out his hand for the other wolf and smiled when he eventually came up and sniffed at Rin’s palm.

\--

It’s the first time Rin can remember battling together with so many people.  It’s the first time they’ve all fought together.  There’s so much going on that it should be pure chaos yet it feels like they’ve done this a million times.  Feels like they’ve been together forever.

They have Sei calling out orders and commands as he cuts a path through the enemies, throwing out buffs left and right.  Ai and Sousuke are making quick work of the majority of the enemies, drawing them in so the others can strike from the sides.  They both toss out lower leveled healing spells and auras from time to time as well.  Momo is flitting from enemy to enemy, dealing swift slices and racking up the damage with Nagisa hot on his heels popping out from the shadows to land critical strikes with poisoned daggers.  Rei and Haru have taken up positions on opposite sides of the battlefield and Haru is summoning watery demons and animals that Rin has never even imagined while Rei holds enemies in place with vines and ice.  Makoto has a spot in the trees behind Haru and arrows rain down across the battle with practiced accuracy.  Rin darts through the battle, stealing here and there, breaking vials of Gou’s poisons against enemies, tossing potions and energy boosts to the others as he weaves through the chaos with Hibiki at his side.

There’s something amazing about fighting with a group like this.  He feels powerful.  They feel powerful.  For the first time since this whole thing started Rin finally feels like they can make it.  They can figure out what’s going on.  They can handle whatever is thrown at them.

Later that day as they sit around a fire in a nearby clearing and sort through the loot they collected that day Rin can’t help the smile that settles on his face as he looks around.  He watches Sei and Momo bickering playfully over a bracelet.  Nagisa and Gou are chattering about a poison recipe they looted.  Ai and Rei are digging through a pile of magic enhancing items.  Haru is napping next to Makoto who is in deep discussion about something with Sousuke.  It’s nice being here tonight.  For the first time since they got stuck here he finally feels content.

He feels like he belongs here.

\--

Makoto had Rin pinned against the cold rocks behind the bottom of the falls, water crashing just a couple feet away and drowning out the rest of the group’s playful shouts from the nearby lake.  Rin laughed when he pulled away to press their foreheads together and take a deep breath.

“Haru will kill us if he finds out we defiled a waterfall with our first kiss.”  Makoto laughed softly and kissed Rin again, pressing against him until he practically melted into Makoto.  Rin let out a quiet groan and leaned his head against Makoto’s shoulder.  “Especially if he finds out it happened when he was like twenty feet away being harassed by my sister and Nagisa.”

“Are you afraid of Haru?”

“No.  I’m more afraid of my sister than Haru.  I just don’t want to wake up with wet blankets for the next month and little wet water creatures dancing on my stomach.”

“That was one time and I honestly think he did it more to prove he could than anything else.”  

Rin shrugged and slipped his hands around Makoto’s neck and pulled him back down.  “I think we should stop talking about Haru and get back to the kissing.”

Rin wasn’t sure how much time they passed pressed against each other sharing gentle kisses but it felt like it had only been a few seconds before Sousuke’s voice startled him and he bit down on Makoto’s lip.  Makoto let out a groan and buried his head against Rin’s neck.

“If the two of you are done mapping each other’s mouths with your tongues we could use some help.  You know.  Actually mapping the woods like we planned.”  Sousuke was sitting on a rock just to the side of the falls.  Rin watched as he stood and brushed off his pants.  “I’ll keep distracting the others a bit longer so you two can do whatever you need to do.”  He started to walk away and then paused with his head tilted towards the falls slightly.  “I don’t think the others figured it out but judging by the frosty quality to that blank stare I’m getting Haru definitely knows what you’re doing back there.  Good luck with that.”

Rin drops his head back against the rocks and spends a few more minutes with Makoto's breath hot against his neck before steeling himself to face Haru.


	6. Terrible Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 6 - Danger

Torches flicker along the tunnels tossing out shadows that make Makoto cringe and scoot even closer to Rin.  He can hear water dripping somewhere and it just sounds ominous.

“Rin,” Makoto whispers.  He has one hand tangled in the back of Rin’s shirt and the other is buried in Hibiki’s fur.  “I don’t think this is a good idea.”  They creep towards the end of the tunnel and Makoto swallows thickly and pleads again.  “This is dangerous.”

“Your face is dangerous,” Rin snaps back.

Makoto pauses, head tilted to the side as Rin peeks around the corner.  “That doesn’t even make sense,” he mutters when Rin steps back.

“Maybe not.  But it calmed you down a little.”  Rin gestures towards his back and Makoto bows his head sheepishly as he finishes untangling his fingers from Rin’s shirt.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.  I don’t want you to cling to anyone but me.”  Rin starts to head around the corner but stops and steps back quickly leaning into Makoto’s space and giving him a kiss.  “But seriously.  Your face should come with a warning label.  Your everything should actually.  You do dangerous things to my heart.”

“I could say the same of you.”

Rin reaches out and gives Makoto’s hand one quick squeeze.  “And I agree.  You’re right.  This isn’t a good idea.  But it’s all we have.”  Then he spins and hurries around the corner.  He hears Makoto take a deep breath to gather his resolve before he follows Rin.

They had one final quest to finish before they could officially start a guild.  It should have been a simple fetch quest, one where they infiltrate some random fortress nearby, grab some documents, hurry back, and bam!  Hand over a ton of gold and you have a new home base and a bunch of new quests.  

Except thanks to the whole ‘true game’ thing happening there were a few catches.

One being that guild spaces were suddenly limited and there were a lot of people out there trying to start one.  Which meant that there were at least three or four groups going after the documents in any given fortress.

Another catch being that they had apparently shifted some of the rules about starting guilds and the base price for five people had more than doubled since they had last looked into it.  Which meant that for the eleven of them they needed a crap ton more gold than they had planned.  But that was a smaller issue in the long run.

What seemed to be the biggest catch was that since the ‘true game’ started many people had gotten desperate.  They were using any and every trick, even the most underhanded ones, to try and continue forward and even though you couldn’t technically die the setbacks from getting caught unawares or getting caught between two fighting parties were huge.  In a time when everyone should be banding together and figuring out how to beat this damn game and get home it seemed most everyone was instead turning against each other and scrambling for whatever “destiny” they had all been told to find.

They manage to get the documents, barely.  The others had been attacking the fortress from above, keeping the enemies and other questers all distracted.  Makoto stumbled out of the caves under the fortress with a poisoned wound that they don’t have an antidote on hand for and Rin had to use one of Gou’s rare potions to bring himself back from the brink of death when they had finally secured the documents.  He could have technically just let himself die and be transported back to the last town, that’s where they were all headed anyway and he could meet them there, but there was no way he was going to make Makoto try to navigate the dark, grimy caves alone and there was always that lingering fear that this would be the time he didn’t come back.

“That was a terrible plan,” Rin groans as Ai and Gou crowd around him after tending to Makoto.  Rei is skimming through the documents and carefully sorting out the ones that they don’t need.  “Let’s not use a plan like that again.”

“It wasn’t exactly the plan I wanted to go with either but sadly it was our best bet.”  Sei is scowling at the air in front of his face and Rin would laugh at how strange it looks - even though he knows Sei is just checking over something on his UI - but he’s just too exhausted to right now.  Almost bleeding out and then having to swallow one of Gou’s special concoctions really takes it out of a guy.

He finds out what exactly Sei was scowling about later when everyone else is curled up together asleep near the fire and he wanders over to where Sei is sitting against a tree watching the rain fall.

“So.  What’s the problem?”  Sei opens his mouth as Rin settles beside him.  “And don’t lie to me.”

Sei huffs and rolls his eyes.  “You’re not my mother.”

“I still know when you’re lying.  And I know something’s up.  I saw you scowling at the air earlier.”

“The fee for a 5 person guild went up again.  And there’s only a few slots left right now.”  He scrubs at his face wearily and sighs.  “We have enough for the starter guild.  Five people and a place to stay.”

“Ok.”

“But we only have enough to either replenish supplies after this last quest or upgrade to ten people.  Which still means someone’s left out.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They sit and watch the rain fall for awhile and it reminds Rin of when they had first all gotten together.  He, Sousuke, Gou, Makoto, Haru, and Ai had been travelling together and they had been in the middle of a huge area boss battle.  They had been getting their butts kicked pretty well and just as they had pulled away to regroup Sei had charged in with Momo, Nagisa, and Rei and finished the battle for them.  That night Sei and Rin had sat up talking for hours, debating the pros and cons of traveling with such a large group and if they’d be able to handle them.  Talking about if the others would listen to just one of them as a leader.  Talking about their future in this game.

Nagisa lets out a surprised yelp and sits up and Rin can see his eyes wide with fear even from here.  Ai rolls over and tugs Nagisa back down and curls against him.  He voices the decision he knows Sei has already made.

“So we replenish supplies and split up for a little bit.  You make the guild.  Take Kisumi for sure.  Let him get connections going.  Take Gou so she can get started on her new alchemy potions.”  Rin thinks for a moment.  “Maybe Rei so he can poke around and see what research he can do.”

Sei takes a deep breath.  “Okay.  But you have to keep Sousuke with you.  You’ll want to keep a melee fighter close and there’s no way he’ll leave you anyway.  Take Momo.  Guild setup would just drive him nuts and then he’ll drive me nuts.”

“So that leaves Ai, Nagisa, Haru, and Mako.”

“Are we doing five in my group and six in yours?  Or four for me seven for you?”

“Ai should stick with you guys.  You shouldn’t need a healer.  But just in case, ya know.”

“Yeah.  Things get dangerous fast these days.  So then you’ll, what?  Pick up a few quests to earn the last of what we need to expand again?”

“Pretty much.  I already have a few in mind that should net us some decent money.  Fairly low risk.  Just kind of tedious.  Which will be perfect while you guys spend the time with the setup.”

They sit in companionable silence after that.  Listening to the fire crackle and hiss when drops of rain make it through the trees.  Watching their friends attempt to sleep.  Sei finally sighs and pushes himself to his feet with a grunt.

“Take care of my little brother okay?”  Sei asks as he watches the fire flickering.  Rin nods even though he knows Sei isn’t looking at him.

“Try not to let Gou blow anything up.”  It’s a show of trust between them that they’re splitting up from their siblings.  Not that they need it.  None of them do really.  They all trust each other with their lives.

“Deal.”  

Rin watches as Sei makes his way between the blanketed bodies and eventually curls up near the far edge of the group.  A few minutes later he heads over himself and flops onto the ground in the tiny space between Makoto and Hibiki.  The wolf raises his head and gives Rin a judgemental look for disturbing his rest and Rin scratches him under his chin in apology.  Makoto wraps his arms around Rin and sleepily asks what he and Sei talked about.  Rin explains even though he can feel Makoto drifting off to sleep as he talks.

“It sounds kinda dangerous to split up like that,” Makoto mumbles, takes a deep inhale, and then he’s asleep.  Rin sighs and nuzzles his nose against Makoto’s shoulder.

“So far as I’m concerned you, Makoto, are the biggest danger in my book,” Rin whispers as he follows Makoto into sleep.

\--

_Rin stands alone in a dark room.  Dust motes float in the patch of moonlight coming from the broken window high above him; the only source of light in the room.  It’’s cold and he shivers as he tries to peer through the darkness.  Everything seems so familiar and yet it’s all so new to him._

_“Rin,” Makoto’s voice comes from behind him and he spins.  There’s a throne sitting a few feet away.  A dark plush seat is surrounded by silver.  Silver legs and a silver back.  Silver arms that remind Rin of tongues.  Three short steps lead up to it and moonlight cuts across the seat.  Makoto steps out from behind it and takes the three quick steps up to it without hesitation._

_Rin doesn’t want Makoto to sit down.  He doesn’t understand why but the thought sends a jolt of panic through his veins.  He tries to call out, to warn Makoto but all that comes out is a gasping cough as Makoto pauses to glance at Rin before settling onto the throne.  Makoto’s fingers curl around the front of the arms and he relaxes into the throne._

_“Rin.”  Makoto’s voice is soft, trusting.  Understanding yet commanding.  Rin can’t figure out what Makoto is trying to get him to do.  He takes a few uncertain steps forward compelled by some urge he doesn’t understand.  Makoto smiles at him.  It’s Makoto’s smile, but it’s not.  There’s something missing from his smile that makes Rin wary.  “Rin.”_

_Makoto holds out his arms, hands fisted, and waits.  Rin glances down at Makoto’s hands and sees something glittering beyond them.  He blinks in surprise.  There are strings of jewels and gold in his own hand.  Red and blue and gold blur together as his eyes tear up.  He stares in confusion, unsure of why he’s doing it even as he moves, as he clasps the jeweled bracelets around Makoto’s wrists and then leans in close to clasp the golden necklace around his throat._

_Makoto tilts his head down towards Rin and Rin becomes aware of a prickling warmth in his hands.  He raises his arms and places a golden crown of thorns carefully on Makoto’s head, watching as olive brown hair turns dark with the drops of blood from Rin’s fingers._

_Makoto raises his head and settles back on the throne.  “Thank you, Rin.”  Makoto’s voice fills his mind even though Rin is sure his lips don’t move.  A sad smile settles on his face and Rin panics again.  “It was always you.”_

_Glass and marble crash to the floor behind him but he can’t tear his gaze away from Makoto.  Can’t look away from that sad smile and the way the gold around his neck looks tarnished in the shadowy light.  Can’t stop seeing the glitter of the jewels around Makoto’s wrists out of the corner of his eye._

_He can’t stop loving Makoto._


	7. From My Heart to Yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MakoRin Week Day 7 - Music

It’s been three weeks since they left Sei and the others.  

The plan was for Sei’s group to head to the guild headquarters in Castor and hopefully snag a guild location for them around Elemental Bay while Rin and his group would make their way to Elemental Bay on foot.  They were shooting for Elemental Bay because from what Rei and Kisumi had been able to figure out the kingdom of shadow and dust their clues had talked about was indeed in the area beyond the mountains.  So they were hoping that while everyone else was setting up base near the mountains and attempting to take the passes through them to hit the kingdom from the front, they would be able to take a less known and less travelled route that started in the forest outside Elemental Bay and wound around to the back of the kingdom.

Rin had figured between the random loot and handful of longer quests they could grab between where they split up and Elemental Bay they’d have enough gold for the expansion when they met up.

It would technically be even easier to get the last of the gold needed if he would sell the item he was working towards right now.  But there was no way that was happening.

He takes a break after he finishes the monster extermination quest he was working on and glances up at his quest log.

 

 

> **_From My Heart to Yours_ **
> 
> _Quest Progression: 25 of 27_
> 
> _Heart of Faith pieces collected: 29 of 30_

 

There were two steps left.  He had to collect the final shard of the heart jewel and then turn it in to be remade.  Then he’d get a new quest with two options: sell the heart for a substantial amount of gold or give it to the person he loved to declare their feelings for each other.

He’d been thinking about taking the quest on for a couple weeks before they decided to split up.  He figured they could start up the guild and then on the downtime they’d have after that he’d head out and take on the quest and come back a couple weeks later and sweep Makoto off his feet with the heart and his declaration of love.  Instead, thanks to the increase in guild prices, he had been picking up pieces of it here and there in secret while they traveled back to Elemental Bay.

They had all been working on random quests, some solo and some as a group, that were available thanks to their varied classes and levels so no one really paid attention when Rin wandered off for parts of the quest.  It wasn’t like he technically needed to keep it a secret but he wanted to surprise Makoto with the heart and, if possible, avoid the worst of the teasing from Sousuke until he handed it over.  He was pretty sure Haru had an idea what was going on judging by the contemplative looks he gave Rin whenever he came back from longer stretches of the quest with random loot and gold.  But he kept silent about it and Rin was thankful for that.

An alert sounds and he opens his chat box with a smile.

_Makoto: Haru Momo and I are heading back to camp.  See you there?_

_Rin: Sou and Nagisa split to pick up another quest nearby._

Rin hears a growl in the distance and whips his head up in time to spot a dark shadow slink into the trees.

_Rin: I have a couple things to run and turn in so I’ll be back in a couple hours probably._

_Makoto: I’ll check in with the other two then.  See you soon.  Be safe._

_Rin:  You too._

He closes the chat box and double checks his potions and inventory.  That growling shadow held the last of his heart shards and he was determined to get it.

It takes a half hour longer and a dozen healing potions more than he had planned but he grins as he sees his updated quest log.

 

 

> **_From My Heart to Yours_ **
> 
> _Quest Progression: 26 of 27_
> 
> _Turn in Heart of Faith pieces to be reforged._

 

All he’d have to do is hit one of the main cities quick to turn it in and he’d have his heart.

\--

“You’re in an awfully good mood tonight.”  Makoto smiles softly at him, eyes curious, and settles onto the ground next to him.

“Just happy to finally feel like we’re getting somewhere, you know?  Like we’re finally able to do something about this whole thing.”  Makoto nods and leans against his shoulder.  They sit like that, staring into the fire, until an alert sounds, startling Rin, and a message pops up in his inbox.

“What is it?”

“A message from Sei.”

_To my esteemed second-in-command:_

_We got it!  Let me know when you get to Elemental Bay and we’ll show you to our new home base.  It’s pretty awesome, even if it’s a little cramped at the moment._

_-Sei_

_PS: Gou has yet to blow anything up, not for lack of trying I assure you.  I may need to buy a new set of fire-proof armor as my last set was apparently more “fire-resistant” than “fire-proof.”_

“Well?”  Sousuke asked as he dropped next to Makoto.  “What does Sei have to say?”

Rin takes a deep breath and then smiles.  “We have a home base in Elemental Bay.”

Nagisa cheers and dives across their laps, pulling Haru and Momo down with him.  They’re a tangle of limbs and laughter and hugs.  Makoto pulls Rin to his chest and gives him a kiss before turning and pulling Sousuke, who already has Momo sprawled in his lap, into a hug.  Nagisa settles himself so he’s curled around Haru’s back and sitting in Rin’s lap.  Their good cheer lasts well into the night, long after Rin has sent a reply to Sei, long after they’ve talked themselves hoarse and curled up for sleep and for the first time in a what feels like forever no one wakes up from a nightmare.

Which naturally means their luck runs out when they’re just a couple hours outside of Elemental Bay.  They’re ambushed by bandits and even though they’re outnumbered they’re holding their own fairly well.  The bandits aren’t even doing much damage to them, just hurrying in with light hits and swooping back out, which seems strange to Rin until he stumbles slightly as he’s being attacked and feels a telltale tug at his pocket.

“Damn it.  They’re not bandits,” he yells out and hopes the others can hear him and guard themselves properly, “they’re thieves!”  He scrambles after the one who just swung past him and hears something crashing through the woods.  There’s a flash of fur and a thief crumbles to the ground in a cloud of smoke just ahead of Rin.  He doesn’t stop to check for loot; his eye is on the one who pickpocketed him because he knows exactly what the bastard took.  There is only one thing of any real value in his inventory right now - his Heart of Faith - and if he lets the thief get too far away it’s gone for good.

“Come on, come on, come on,” he mutters to himself as he hurries through the trees.  “Where are you, you little shit?”  A glint of metal catches his eyes and he leaps towards it, fingers brushing fabric as he stumbles out of the woods.  He blinks as he registers Elemental Bay’s rocky border wall ahead of him and then lets out a string of curses as his heart falls.  All that time he spent was wasted now.  Time he could have spent earning more gold for upgraded weapons and armor for the group.  Time he could have been gathering research materials for Rei and Kisumi and Gou.  Time he wasn’t going to get back now.

“Rin?”  Makoto calls through the trees.  Rin can hear the others calling him as well and after a moment he takes a calming breath and calls back to them.

“We made it guys.”

\--

Soft music fills the room as Rin stretches out on his bed with a sigh.  It’s been far too long since he’s had a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in.  His room is still fairly empty.  There’s a small pile of things in the corner he needs to sort through and a handful of books on the small bookshelf he had in the corner.  Otherwise it’s just a generic room like a thousand others.  It’ll be strange to sleep in a bed alone instead of in a pile on the ground with everyone else around him.  His eyes drift shut and he wonders when the sound of Momo talking in his sleep and Sei snoring had become more soothing than the soft sleepy music playing in the room.

His eyes flutter open at the knock on his door and he stretches before calling out for whoever was there to enter.

“Hey, Rin.”  A wet nose snuffles against his neck a moment after the door cracks open and Rin slips out of bed to sit on the floor next to Hibiki.

“Hey Hibiki,” he says as the wolf sniffs at him.  “Hi Makoto.”  Makoto steps inside and then just stands there, fidgeting a little.  “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to see how you were.  You didn’t seem as excited about making it here as I thought you would be and I wanted to make sure nothing happened during that last battle.”  Rin opens his mouth to deny it, to toss out some random spiel about just being tired and trying to get used to the new surroundings, but then he meets Makoto’s eyes and sighs instead.  He pats the floor next to him and when Makoto sits beside him and leans back against the bed Rin drops his head onto Makoto’s shoulder.  After a couple minutes of silence Hibiki settles across their laps.

“Well it’s not really anything major in the long run.  Just.  I did this quest and they nabbed the prize for it before I could do what I wanted to with it.”

Makoto takes his hand and kisses it before threading their fingers together.  “Was it an important quest item?”

“Mostly just important to me.”  Rin takes a moment to decide if he wants to tell Makoto.  If he wants to make the declaration that he was in love with the other man.  Makoto gives him time, the hand not holding Rin’s dropping to run through Hibiki’s fur.  “It was a heart.”  Makoto goes still, Rin’s pretty sure he doesn’t even breathe, for a moment and then rests his head against Rin’s.

“That would have fetched a pretty decent amount of gold.  You had been talking about a new set of daggers.  That really sucks.”

“Sucks more than that.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t give it to you now.”

“You wanted to give me a heart?”  His words are cautious, as if he can’t quite believe what Rin is saying.

“Yeah.  Heart of Faith.”  Rin tenses and bites his lip.  He had never considered the option before but Makoto’s quiet leaves him unsettled, worried.  “Would you have accepted it?”

Makoto’s answer is immediate.  “Of course I would have.  I would have loved it.  Actually, on that note I, uh.”  Makoto untangles their hands and stands.  “Wait here for just a moment?”

A couple minutes later Makoto is back in Rin’s room and standing near the door shifting nervously as he watches Rin.  Rin looks back patiently until Makoto takes a deep breath and holds out his hand.  A small wooden box sits in his palm, dark brown and polished to a shine, and Rin’s breath catches as he reaches to take it.

“What’s that?”

“Something I’ve been wanting to give you for awhile now but I wasn’t sure if you’d want it.  If you’d accept it, accept me.”

Resting on the dark plush inside the box is a heart shaped jewel attached to a silver chain.  Rin carefully holds it up, eyes darting to the side to see the notification.

_Makoto wishes to give you the gift ‘ **Heart of Fate** ’_

_Accept gift?_

“Makoto,” Rin whispers, voice rough with emotion, “of course I accept it.”  Makoto’s eyes glitter as he takes the necklace and carefully clasps it around Rin’s neck, warm fingers lingering on his skin and Rin shudders.

A ghost of a dream long forgotten brushes against him but he shakes it away when Makoto tilts his chin up for a kiss.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ends my contributions to MakoRin week. But Fragmented Phantasy is far from over. Be sure to keep an eye out for more of the story!


	8. Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover

Ai smiles, chin in his hands, as he watches Rin and Makoto from one of the benches along the courtyard.  He’s not even sure anymore how long they’ve all been here in this world, how long it’s been since the “real game” began, and honestly he’s not sure he minds that much.  Because this is his reality now.  It’s tough here, sure, but it’s also reassuring in a way.  He has friends that are closer than any family he’s ever had.  They laugh, they joke.  Sure sometimes he still wakes up shaking and scared in the middle of the night and goes stumbling down the guild hallways until he stumbles into someone’s room.  Sometimes he sees someone get struck in battle and his heart nearly stops at the sight of the blood.

But so much of the time is this.  This easy simplicity.  This mashup of personalities that have somehow come together to form a guild.  To make a family.

Momo flops onto the bench beside him with a pout and a notice pops up.

Momo wishes to gift you  5000 Gold

Accept Gift?

“A man of his word,” Ai laughs as he accepts the gold.

“I still don’t see how you guessed it right.”

“I’ve been with them longer than you.  I know them pretty well by now.”

“Plus I told him what to bet for.”  Sousuke joins them and settles down on Momo’s other side.  Momo’s eyes go wide as he looks from one to the other with his mouth hanging open.  Ai nudges his shoulder, laughing when Momo whines.

“I can’t believe you two.  Have you always been this devious Ai?”

Ai looks up at him innocently.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about Momo.”

“Sure, sure.”  Momo hops up and wanders away.  Ai watches Makoto and Rin dancing for a minute and then laughs quietly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh I was just remembering when I first met Rin.  That day you brought him with to our meetup in Elemental Bay.  It seems like forever ago now.”

“Ah.  The day you soloed the giant and the area boss at the same time.  I’ve never seen Rin so impressed by another person so quickly.”

“He implied that I was weak.  I’m not.”

“No, you’re not.  You’re welcome for helping you with that by the way.  I like this whole confidence thing you have going for you these days.”  Sousuke glances to the side and gives Ai a slow once over.  “Not that quiet little demure warrior Ai wasn’t good.  I liked him too.”

“Sousuke!”  Ai whines and buries his face in his hands, doing his best to hide his blush, though Sousuke can still spot a touch of reddened ears.

\--

Three weeks earlier Ai had been powering his way through a massive battlefield, throwing out a protective aura around Rin and Nagisa who had fallen back a moment to catch their breath, when two wolves darted past him, nearly catching him off guard as they wove around him and met up just in front of him.  Makoto gave him a meaningful look before he and Hibiki split again and darted around the enemy in front of them, effectively distracting him enough for Ai to land a critical hit.  A moment later Rin was back at his side, Nagisa hurrying off to rejoin Sei’s group, as he blocked an incoming blow from another enemy.

“Why do they always focus on you so much?” Rin pants as he knocks down an enemy in a flurry of nearly impossible to see hits.

“I’m one of the smallest in some of the bulkiest armor.  They often focus on the highest and lowest defenses first.  I make a pretty good decoy for Sei and Sou to come in and wipe them out from behind or for you guys to take them out with from the sides.”  A blow hits across his chest and he hisses at the impact, turning to return the strike and add one of his own with Rin managing a finishing blow.

After the battle they’re wandering through finishing collecting their loot when Rin pauses and Ai stoops to check yet another body for loot.

“It’s ‘Sou’ now is it?”  

Ai freezes for a moment, cheeks flushing, and looks up at Rin with wide eyes.

“Please don’t tell him.”  His voice is high and breathy, half a step away from full blown panic.

Rin shoots him a confused look.  “Why?  What’s wrong with it?”

“We’re not you two.”  Ai glances from Rin over to where Makoto has shifted back into his human form and is collecting loose arrows from the ground.

“What does that mean?”

“Come on, Rin.  Anytime the two of you even so much as glance at each other everything in a ten mile radius starts sparkling.  It’s obvious you two are so in love.  Sousuke and I are, just, nowhere near there.”

“What?  It’s not obvious!”  Rin’s eyes dart around.  He crouches down next to Ai and leans in close.  “You really think so?”  Ai gently shoves his shoulder and stands.

“The two of you should just get married already.”

\--

A week later, another battle.  The whole getting a guild set up thing really opened up a ton of new quests.  Personal quests, party quests, guild quests.  It was exciting and a little exhausting.

This time it’s Nagisa at his side, dripping poison into wounds and slinking back into Ai’s shadow with a grin.  A yelp sounds to their left and they turn in sync and spot Makoto and Hibiki surrounded.  A curse slips past Makoto’s lips just as they break through the enemies and Ai is a moment too late to stop the blow that slams across Makoto’s shoulder and drops him to his knees.  Ai throws down a healing barrier as Rin rushes up.  Ai focuses his attention on wiping out the enemies who dared injure his friend.

“Hey Rin.  I’m fine,” he hears Makoto say as Rin growls out something.  “I promise.  Ai’s already healing me.”

Nagisa is doing his best to back him up but it’s not quite enough and he grunts when he takes a staff blow his to his stomach, his breath leaves him for a moment as he glares up at the man who had struck Makoto, and now him, with watery eyes.

“Rin I could use some back up.”

“Gladly,” Rin snarls, launching himself past Ai, blades flashing in the sunlight as he sinks three quick strikes into the man before slipping out of his range.  Ai gestures to Nagisa who throws out two vials to Rin and one to him before turning and focusing his attacks on weakening the remaining enemies.  They both coat their weapons with Nagisa’s special poison and take up a stance on either side of the man.  Ai’s pretty sure that he’s the leader of this group of enemies, though his stats are obscured, and he is beyond ready to take him down.  His stomach throbs under his armor but he focuses his attention on keeping the pulse of the barrier around Makoto steady while taking this guy on; he’d deal with his own injuries later.

A few minutes later Rin lands the finishing blow, immediately turning his back on the man and hurrying back to Makoto when the last gasp passes the enemy’s lips.  He’s covered in sweat and blood and a few bruises that start to fade as soon as he steps past Ai’s barrier but Makoto is looking at him like he’s never seen anything more beautiful and Ai actually has to look away when Rin drops onto the ground next to Makoto.

“Rin,” Makoto sighs and pulls him into a hug while Ai watches the others finish clearing out the stragglers.  Makoto leans back and rubs a smudge of dirt from Rin’s cheek.  “I know this is probably a bad time but, marry me?”

Ai spins, eyes wide, as he watches Rin’s face flush before he whispers a shaky “Yes” and then they’re kissing, Hibiki running circles around them excitedly.  Ai turns away again, not wanting to intrude on this moment any more than he already has, and spots Momo and Sei on the other side of the battlefield.

“Momo,” he calls out, grinning when the other teen turns, “I win!”

\--

Two weeks later Rin and Makoto are finally, officially married.  In this world at least.

“You know Rin said something interesting to me the other day.”  Ai pulls away from his hands enough to glance at Sousuke.  “He asked if it was still okay to call me ‘Sou’ or if that nickname was only for my boyfriend to use.”  Ai squeaks and buries his face again.  “I told him I didn’t even realize I had a boyfriend and he gave me this look.  Actually,” Sousuke leans over and tugs at one of Ai’s hands, “he’s giving me that look right now.”  Ai shakes his head, refusing to look at Sousuke or Rin, but he lets Sousuke tug one hand away from his face.  After a couple minutes of simply holding his hand Sousuke stands and gently pulls Ai to his feet.  “Dance with me?”

“I thought the people who stood up for you usually danced together at a wedding?”  Ai mumbles as he halfheartedly tries to pull away.

“No way in hell am I dancing with Haru.”  Sousuke pulls Ai against him and drops his chin on Ai’s head.  “Especially when I could be dancing with you.”

Ai’s fingers dig into the front of Sousuke’s shirt as his mind races.  Maybe it would be worth it.  Sousuke’s arms tighten around his waist and Ai sighs.  They might never have the type of sparkle inducing ray of sunshine love that Rin and Makoto seem to have found.  But that would be okay.  Because they were still friends.  They could have this.  Sousuke made him feel safe.  Sousuke felt like home in a way nothing back in the real world ever did.

Even if they didn’t have the seemingly soul deep connection the other two did they could still be together, he thinks as he leans back and smile up at Sousuke.

He has more in this world than he’s ever had back in the real world and the thought scares him a little as he lets Sousuke lead him over near where Rin and Makoto are dancing.  There’s more at stake here than he ever imagined even having and, not for the first time, he wonders if maybe never finding their way home would be such a horrible thing after all.

He wonders if staying here forever might just be the perfect solution.


End file.
